Baytex Energy Corp. says one of its strategic priorities is achieving full-scale development in the Duvernay, with a production target of 20,000–25,000 boe/d by 2029-2030.

The company currently has 91,500 net acres in the play, along with about 210 drilling locations.

“The Duvernay is on track to deliver 35 per cent production growth in 2026, with an exit rate of 14,000 to 15,000 boe per day,” Chad Lundberg, president and chief executive officer, said on last week’s first-quarter conference call.

In Q1, in the Duvernay, Baytex drilled its first four wells of the year, with completions now underway.

These first wells of the year are expected onstream in June, with nine following in Q3 and Q4, totalling 13 wells onstream in 2026.

One four-well pad will be drilled later this year, and be completed and brought onstream in the first quarter of 2027.

In total, 17 wells will be drilled in the Duvernay in 2026, up from the original 12 wells.

The company intends to transition to a one-rig program in the Duvernay, targeting 30 per cent annual production growth and an 80 per cent increase in field-level operating income by 2028.

In its Q1 release, Baytex said it is maintaining capital discipline, with exploration and development expenditures for 2026 targeted at the high end of its guidance range, approximately $625 million (previously $550–$625 million).

Incremental spending is allocated to heavy oil and the Pembina Duvernay.

The quarterly release also provided an updated three-year growth outlook. The new outlook targets annual production growth of six to eight per cent (up from three to five per cent), while maintaining a net cash position throughout the period.

“So when we talk about six to eight per cent in 2027, 2028, and beyond, this moves us, for example, to an 18- to 20-well program in the Duvernay,” Lundberg said. “Again, that is where we hit a one-rig levelized base, and we have a shot at improving our capital cost structure even further than what we have demonstrated to this point in the asset.”

Performance in the Pembina Duvernay

The company has reported improvements in well costs in the Pembina Duvernay, and Lundberg said the company is aiming to become more efficient as it switches towards the one-rig development program in the play.

Baytex moved from $1,165 per foot of completed lateral length (CLL) in 2024 to $1,040/foot CLL in 2025.

“We are budgeted … this year at $1,000 per foot, and we think — and this is the power of getting to scale in the assets — is that at full-rig activity pace, we have a shot at getting to $900 a foot or better.”

On the characterization front, Lundberg said the company has moved from a EUR of about 80 boe/foot CLL, in 2024, to 90 boe/foot CLL in 2025.

Facilities and water infrastructure are also “part of the ecosystem” that need to be developed in order to optimize and maximize efficiencies, he said.

“This year we do have a little bit of incremental facilities spending. For example, as we built up budget, it is about $50 million, with the majority of that going to the Duvernay.

“We have three years of elevated facility spend in the Duvernay — so ’26, ’27 and ’28 — at that $35-million range. After that, it drops to $10 million going forward. That gets us five of seven major anchor batteries completed. And that gets us two and a half of five of water reservoirs completed.”